“Water kills no man: Asto-vidhotu binds
him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the
flood takes him up, the flood takes him down, the
flood throws him ashore; then birds feed upon him.
When he goes away, it is by the will of Fate he goes.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
Does fire kill?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Fire kills no man: Asto-vidhotu binds
him, and, thus bound, Vayu carries him off; and the
fire burns up life and limb. When he goes away,
it is by the will of Fate he goes.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
If the summer is past and the winter has come, what
shall the worshippers of Mazda do?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“In every house, in every borough, they shall
raise three rooms for the dead.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
How large shall be those rooms for the dead?

Ahura Mazda answered:—­

“Large enough not to strike the skull of the
man, if he should stand erect, or his feet or his
hands stretched out: such shall be, according
to the law, the rooms for the dead. And they shall
let the lifeless body lie there, for two nights, or
for three nights, or a month long, until the birds
begin to fly, the plants to grow, the hidden floods
to flow, and the wind to dry up the earth. And
as soon as the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow,
the hidden floods to flow, and the wind to dry up
the earth, then the worshippers of Mazda shall lay
down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes towards the
sun. If the worshippers of Mazda have not, within
a year, laid down the dead on the Dakhma, his eyes
towards the sun, thou shalt prescribe for that trespass
the same penalty as for the murder of one of the faithful;
until the corpse has been rained on, until the Dakhma
has been rained on, until the unclean remains have
been rained on, until the birds have eaten up the
corpse.”

O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One!
Is it true that thou, Ahura Mazda, seizest the waters
from the sea Vouru-kasha with the wind and the clouds?
That thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the corpses?
that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the Dakhmas?
that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down to the unclean
remains? that thou, Ahura Mazda, takest them down
to the bones? and that then thou, Ahura Mazda, makest
them flow back unseen? that thou, Ahura Mazda, makest
them flow back to the sea Puitika?